Sunday, May 8, 2016

The Day of Pentecost (C), May 15, 2016 - Acts 2:1-21

In St. Mark's cathedral, Korčula, Croatia

Grace in CroatiaI understood nothing,In St. Mark's Cathedral,Korčula, Croatia.Some two hundred had come,Despite buckets of rain,Five in the afternoon.I'd call their hymns praise songs,Repeated, known by heart,Yet beautifully faithful.Their songs of mystery -And love - and sacrifice -And, I think, gratitude,Almost moved me to tears,Everything understood,Though no words known to me.How could this be, givenMy inabilityTo say anything backAbout that which filled them?I, too, was full of grace.

Scott L. Barton

Pentecost, Pope Francis, and the Lightness of BeingIt used to be that when the PopeWould speak, he didn't speak to me;He's always been the voice of judgment,And of high authority;Plus, as a pastor, I had seenThe damage done unto his flock,When people to our doors appeared,Cast from their church right down the block;But this Pope speaks a different line,The Spirit has him in its grasp;The lightness of his being showsA man (like God?) in on the laughOf Christ, who doesn't spare the truth,Yet always sees the world with grace.All understand! And at his faithAnd hope and love I am amazed.

Oh, What Would They Do?A sound like the rush of a violent windFilled the whole house with all of them there;These tongues, or this ruach, this fire, appeared,Like an answer to all of their prayers;Oh, what would they do, with their Lord up and gone,Out of sight, vanished, gone, disappeared?Thus, fire from heaven, like Sinai encore,All their doubts of the kingdom then cleared:The news of salvation is not some obscureOr exclusive thing meant for a few;All manner of folk, of all nations on earthNow are given the love that makes new.

How OddHow odd/ of God/ to choose/ the JewsI used to like to say;It was a favorite axiomI might say some Lord's DayTo help the congregation seeThese texts are not obsessedWith moral goodness all around,But rather, how God blessedA motley crew of liars, cheats,And folk like you and me!Which is, of course, good news today,For, though we don't agreeOn points of doctrine, song or style,The Spirit gladly speaksSo people hear within their hearts(Despite our own techniques)That blessings far and wide abound;Such things still come from God!So go proclaim the love you have,Not like a drunk - but odd!

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. Amazed and astonished, they asked, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.” All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” But others sneered and said, “They are filled with new wine.”But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, “Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel: ‘In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. Even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy. And I will show portents in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and smoky mist. The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day. Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’

About Me

I grew up in the church. I remember my 3rd and 4th grade Sunday School teachers at the Niskayuna (NY) Reformed Church, was baptized and confirmed at Bakerstown (PA) Presbyterian Church where I wrote my first sermon; gave a Youth Sunday sermon at my home church, New Hartford (NY) Presbyterian Church; went to Haverford College and Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School. Pastorates: Sackets Harbor (Presbyterian), Heuvelton (Presbyterian) and Potsdam (Presbyterian), New York; Bennington, Vermont (Old First Congregational); and Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania (Collenbrook - Presbyterian and U.C.C.), and a “bridge” pastorate at First Congregational Church, Hadley (U.C.C.). I have files upon files of poems for all kinds of occasions, including family greeting cards and personal notes, farewell accolades to colleagues, hymns, and things that just struck my fancy. Retired, I write a poem each week on a lectionary passage. I hope it helps preachers or anybody else who wants to get started thinking about a text in a new way.
Member Tanglewood Festival Chorus in Boston; previously: The Philadelphia Singers Chorale, and Da Camera Singers and Ars Cantorum in Amherst. Tweet @lectionarypoems